Trauma is a vast and complex subject. Every person’s experience is unique; influenced by their life history, relationships, resilience, biology and environment. As a result, there is no single definition of trauma, and there is not one approach to healing that works for everyone.

This is true for yoga-based interventions too – there is not one single approach that will be best for every person affected by trauma, even if that is the impression given on yoga for trauma training. It is a much more complex and nuanced situation.

Effective trauma-informed care requires careful consideration of the individual, with interventions adapted to meet their specific needs, capacities and circumstances.

In this article, we explore one area of trauma through the lens of yoga therapy. Rather than focusing on psychological processing or analysing past events, this approach recognises the profound relationship between the body, the nervous system and our capacity to heal. Yoga can offer practical tools for restoring safety, regulation and connection – creating conditions that support recovery alongside, or in collaboration with, other therapeutic approaches where these are appropriate.

Different Experiences of Trauma

Although trauma exists on a broad and wide spectrum, it can be helpful to distinguish between two common patterns of experience.

Event trauma arises from a single overwhelming incident, such as an accident, assault or natural disaster. During these experiences, the nervous system may become flooded with fear and entering a state of freeze following episodes of recurring memories. This can leave the person feeling trapped and powerless.

Developmental trauma, on the other hand, develops over time. It is often rooted in childhood experiences where emotional needs for safety, attunement, nurturing and connection were not consistently met. Rather than one defining event, it reflects the cumulative impact of living without enough emotional security.

While both forms of trauma can produce similar symptoms—including anxiety, hypervigilance, emotional overwhelm or dissociation—the underlying needs in healing are often different.

Understanding What Is Missing

For someone recovering from a single traumatic event but with a secure childhood experience, there is often an existing internal sense of safety that has been disrupted. Healing involves helping the nervous system complete the protective responses that became interrupted during the traumatic experience, restoring agency and rebuilding confidence in re-establishing the body and mind’s ability to respond effectively to return to safety.

In other words, working back from a ‘freeze’ response to a mobilisation response and working on establishing a sense of safety.

Developmental trauma presents a different challenge. Here, the internal experience of safety may never have fully developed.

As children, we rely on caring adults to notice our distress, soothe us, comfort us and help us make sense of difficult experiences. Through thousands of these moments of co-regulation, we gradually learn self-regulation – the ability to calm ourselves when life becomes challenging.

When those experiences are absent or inconsistent, the nervous system continues searching for safety throughout adulthood. Healing therefore becomes a process of building an internal sense of security that may not have been established in early life.

The approach needs to focus on building a sense of safety and connection; both 

• a sense of safety and connection to the self (authenticity) 
• a sense of safety and connection to others (attachment). 

If this has not been present in childhood, it is still possible to develop this when we are older.   The aim is towards wholeness – feeling safe within oneself and in the presence of others. A state of authenticity and connection at the same time. 

The Body Memory

Trauma is not only remembered by the mind—it is also held within the body.

Protective responses that were once necessary can become long-standing patterns of muscular tension, restricted breathing, emotional numbness/reactivity or disconnection from parts of ourselves. The diaphragm may remain tight, breathing becoming shallow and the body continuing to behave as though danger is still present.

From a yoga perspective, healing begins by gently helping the body rediscover ease.

Simple movement, mindful breathing and body awareness, with repetition over time, create opportunities for the nervous system to recognise that it is safe enough to soften. As tension gradually releases, the body’s natural capacity for re-integration begins to emerge.

Perhaps the most important principle of trauma-informed yoga is that healing cannot be forced.

Rather than challenging the body, the emphasis is on creating experiences that feel predictable, manageable and safe. Practices are typically slow, repetitive and grounding, allowing the nervous system to settle and restore safety, rather than challenging and becoming overwhelmed.

This may include:

• gentle, rhythmic movement
• breath and movement coordinated together
• grounding through the senses
• simple body awareness practices
• offering choices throughout the practice

Choice is particularly important. Trauma often involves a loss of control, so inviting a sense of agency—even in small ways—supports recovery.

The aim is not to relive traumatic experiences but to create enough internal safety that difficult memories or sensations can be processed gradually, without overwhelming the nervous system.

Working With the Nervous System

Yoga also offers unique ways of supporting the body’s natural mechanisms for finding calm.

The eyes, ears, face, jaw, throat and voice are all connected with the social engagement system, an important part of our nervous system that helps us feel safe through connection with others.

Gentle practices such as relaxing the eyes, releasing tension in the jaw, softening the tongue, humming or chanting can stimulate the vagus nerve, encouraging the parasympathetic nervous system to become more active. As the body settles, breathing becomes easier, muscles soften and a greater sense of calm can emerge.

These practices may appear simple, yet they can have a profound influence on how safe the body feels.

Rebuilding Connection

Trauma often leaves people disconnected—not only from others, but from themselves.

Part of healing may involve learning to inhabit and trust the body again. Responses such as dissociation, numbness or emotional withdrawal can be understood, not as failures but as intelligent survival strategies that once helped with protection.

With compassionate practice, individuals can begin to reconnect with their bodies, their breath and their inner experience. Learning that emotions shift repeatedly, they come and go, thoughts are not always facts, and beneath the protective patterns there remains an inherent capacity for balance, resilience and wellbeing is important in the recovery process. Restoring the authentic and compassionate connection to oneself can bring more steadiness and discernment in connection with others. A state of more joy in connection with others rather than fear or pain.

Yoga supports this journey not by changing who we are, but by helping us reconnect with what has always been present beneath the layers of protection.

A Compassionate Path Towards Healing and Wholeness

Working with trauma is both courageous and deeply individual. Yoga can play a valuable role in supporting recovery and it is also one part of a much broader picture. People may benefit from psychotherapy, counselling or medical support alongside body-based practices, and recognising when to refer on is an essential aspect of trauma-related care.

Ultimately, yoga offers something profoundly simple: a way of helping people feel safe enough in their own bodies to begin healing. By cultivating ease, safety and connection, we create the conditions in which the nervous system can reorganise, resilience can grow and a renewed sense of wholeness can gradually emerge.

Don’t miss our workshop:

From Trauma to Gentle Reintegration

On 26 Sept 2026, 9.30am-1pm

It’s Online and costs £45

You’ll receive a recording to review after the training

To book, see https://yogatherapywholepersonhealing.com/short-courses/